A High School setting is affected by slightly different aspects than an elementary or middle school. These settings are what forms the student into the person they are, how they learn, and how they act. My personal feelings of my High School setting are based on many things such as the overall upkeep of the school, the effort of the teachers, the respect shown between teachers and students, the safety of the school, and the overall population of the students and how they viewed learning.
I went to The Prout High School, which is a private catholic school in Wakefield, RI. The process to apply required one to take a placement test and be able to keep up in class. The school did not offer any kind of special needs help, which changes the setting by keeping only certain level students together. What I noticed was that many, if not all of the students seemed to care enough about school to attend on a regular basis. This also included a lot of people who worked hard to get great grades.
For me, I was in the higher level classes surrounded by students with drives to do well. This helped push me along to do well in class and in a way compete with the other students. This can also be viewed as a negative affect because school should not be viewed as a competition but a learning experience. I think the setting had a lot to do with this competition since there was such a large number of students who were smart and achieving good grades.
Altogether, the teacher population had very few certified teachers compared to the public school system I used to attend. Now this tended to produce some very good teachers and some not so good ones. Many teachers knew their subjects well but couldn’t share the knowledge with students well. This caused some trouble either that the information was too hard or the teacher would end up wasting time and not teaching. I consider this a consequence of setting because only in private schools is non certified teachers allowed to teach which can be a problem. Over all, I had some great teachers who were very involved and smart who showed me how to look at ideas in new ways, analyze and critically think, and of course learn math techniques.
Since my high school was Catholic, the rules at school seemed a bit stricter than a public high school. We had to wear uniforms which was quite annoying for me. The positive aspects of this is that there are less distractions and worries over clothing, which can lead to more focus on school work, but for me I felt that it just made my experience seem more “plain”. The fact that I would wear the same thing every day made me like the clothes less and less. This led to me associating feelings, usually negative, with the clothes I wore and saw. Now it really didn’t affect my focus at school but it just changed the mood at school and reduced ones individuality which is important to have at school.
The rules about wearing uniforms the way the dean wanted them was strictly enforced as were many other rules. This produced a safe environment with little actual evidence of drugs or alcohol on the property. This is defiantly a positive aspect to my education because it removed much of the temptations when I was younger and allowed me to concentrate fully on school.
Although we did not have a great athletics program, there was enough activities to find something to do after school rather than have no other release from school during the day. I ended up running cross country and track. Now this was important because it gave me friends to connect with and a strict and safe environment. The coaches were involved in the sport and did not allow misbehaving or any substance use. This may be different than other schools who allow bad actions in practice, which leads directly to bad actions at school. Sports also gave me reason to achieve in other areas than just school, but also fueled me to even better in class.
Overall, my setting at High School positively affected my education by providing a safe, encouraging environment. I had good amount of teachers willing to invest time into my learning which is crucial to understanding new concepts. I also had the opportunity to join sports teams to keep me focused, provide a goal, good friends, and am escape from the sometimes hectic school work.
9-23-10
High School Setting
A High School setting is affected by slightly different aspects than an elementary or middle school. These settings are what forms the student into the person they are, how they learn, and how they act. My personal feelings of my High School setting are based on many things such as the overall upkeep of the school, the effort of the teachers, the respect shown between teachers and students, the safety of the school, and the overall population of the students and how they viewed learning.
I went to The Prout High School, which is a private catholic school in Wakefield, RI. The process to apply required one to take a placement test and be able to keep up in class. The school did not offer any kind of special needs help, which changes the setting by keeping only certain level students together. What I noticed was that many, if not all of the students seemed to care enough about school to attend on a regular basis. This also included a lot of people who worked hard to get great grades.
For me, I was in the higher level classes surrounded by students with drives to do well. This helped push me along to do well in class and in a way compete with the other students. This can also be viewed as a negative affect because school should not be viewed as a competition but a learning experience. I think the setting had a lot to do with this competition since there was such a large number of students who were smart and achieving good grades.
Altogether, the teacher population had very few certified teachers compared to the public school system I used to attend. Now this tended to produce some very good teachers and some not so good ones. Many teachers knew their subjects well but couldn’t share the knowledge with students well. This caused some trouble either that the information was too hard or the teacher would end up wasting time and not teaching. I consider this a consequence of setting because only in private schools is non certified teachers allowed to teach which can be a problem. Over all, I had some great teachers who were very involved and smart who showed me how to look at ideas in new ways, analyze and critically think, and of course learn math techniques.
Since my high school was Catholic, the rules at school seemed a bit stricter than a public high school. We had to wear uniforms which was quite annoying for me. The positive aspects of this is that there are less distractions and worries over clothing, which can lead to more focus on school work, but for me I felt that it just made my experience seem more “plain”. The fact that I would wear the same thing every day made me like the clothes less and less. This led to me associating feelings, usually negative, with the clothes I wore and saw. Now it really didn’t affect my focus at school but it just changed the mood at school and reduced ones individuality which is important to have at school.
The rules about wearing uniforms the way the dean wanted them was strictly enforced as were many other rules. This produced a safe environment with little actual evidence of drugs or alcohol on the property. This is defiantly a positive aspect to my education because it removed much of the temptations when I was younger and allowed me to concentrate fully on school.
Although we did not have a great athletics program, there was enough activities to find something to do after school rather than have no other release from school during the day. I ended up running cross country and track. Now this was important because it gave me friends to connect with and a strict and safe environment. The coaches were involved in the sport and did not allow misbehaving or any substance use. This may be different than other schools who allow bad actions in practice, which leads directly to bad actions at school. Sports also gave me reason to achieve in other areas than just school, but also fueled me to even better in class.
Overall, my setting at High School positively affected my education by providing a safe, encouraging environment. I had good amount of teachers willing to invest time into my learning which is crucial to understanding new concepts. I also had the opportunity to join sports teams to keep me focused, provide a goal, good friends, and am escape from the sometimes hectic school work.